amimono note

Moving

This will be the last post to this blog. My blog is moving to a new location (or maybe I should say "to a new blogging system", since it's almost the same URL)!

My new knitting blog is:

amimono no-to
http://www.iktsoft.com/blog/ami/

Hope to see you there!

Converted

I knitted a scarf with my spindle-spun yarn last year. The plan was to attach fringes and felt the whole thing a bit, but I just couldn't bring myself to felt my handspun... and a year had passed, with my doing nothing with it.

Then I had an idea recently, and now the scarf is in the process of becoming a shrug. I have a vague idea of the construction of a shrug, though I've never knitted one. I'm knitting the collar/front body/bottom back body part (they are in one big round piece) right now, but I might have to rip it back and re-knit it since I have no idea how it's going to look like... The good thing is that the thought doesn't bother me much. Somehow when I'm experimenting with my own thing, I don't mind unravelling as much as I do when I'm knitting from a ready-made pattern.

Back of the shrug.

Head-less shot of me wearing it. I'll add the cuffs later, if there is enough yarn left.

By the way, I think I knit about an hour total in a day, and so far my wrists have been fine. I've been trying to knit no more than 15 minutes at a time, and not to knit the same project more than 30 minutes in a day. These rules makes my knitting progress slow, but it seems like it's working for the wrists.

Another new project...

I needed a portable project and didn't have any (!), so I started a new project...

The swatch above in the picture is for the Estonian Scarf by Nancy Bush, from Piecework magazine Jul/Aug 2005. The bottom is for the Trinity Stitch Shawl by Esther Smith Bozak.

The yarn is Diamusee Fine. I originally bought this yarn for the Estonian Scarf, but the changing color of the yarn doesn't look good on it. Also, my k2tog stitches look awful...their rattled shape distracts from the stitch pattern.

So I tried the Trinity Stitch shawl next, since I've always thought that trinity stitch (or blueberry stitch, according to Alice Starmore) works well with variegated yarn. I think the swatch looks better than the Estonian scarf one, but I wasn't sure yet...

Maybe I should try a knit stitch based stitch (like chevron stitch on Jaywalker) on a rectangular shape, then the color change won't be too bothersome. Garyo knitted a Clapotis with the same yarn in a different colorway, it looks really nice.

...After much contemplation, I decided to go with the Trinity Stitch Shawl. Now I have almost finished one ball of yarn, and I'm really satisfied with the choice! Doesn't the fabric look comfy?

Anyway... I'll have to look for another yarn for the Estonian Scarf... But before doing that, I really have to spin and ply some yarn for the zigzag scarf. If I had some yarn to knit, I didn't have to start yet another project in the first place.

By the way, I'm planning to move my blog here, hopefuly in the next few months. It's still under construction (theme-wise), but please feel free to come over there. I'll continue to post here until I learn a little more about the new blogging system (WordPress).

Magic Stripes Socks

(Click for a larger picture.)

• Pattern: Simple Sock in Three Sizes from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles


• Yarn: Lion Brand's Magic Stripes


• Needles: Addi Turbo #0, 16" x 2

This was my first time knitting with Magic Stripes. I liked the yarn because I like thicker sock yarns. I think they are warmer, and they are faster to knit!

This was also my first time to try to match the stripes from self-patterned yarn on both socks. I failed miserably, but when I noticed there was a brown stripe missing at the beginning of the foot on one sock, I thought that matching the stripes was not meant to be this time and I was relieved...

(The text in the picture is Japanese. It says "A brown is missing")

I wonder if other Magic Stripes yarn is the same as this one. Is the brown always missing there in this colorway?

Non-knitting note

I had a good summer vacation, had fun and rested well. I've been thinking about this blog lately... I write fairly regularly on my Japanese knitting blog, but not here, and I want to change that.

I have always thought "I should be able to write English much better than this, because I've been in the states for xx years..." then I got stuck and couldn't write. Also, I often ask my English teacher to check my writings before I publish them. That makes updating slow too, since I only have one class a week.

I'm now thinking "Why not have some fun, even if I make some mistakes?" So, I'll write more often (hopefully) and maybe ask my teacher to check my writings later. I will make some corrections after publishing them, so people who kindly subscribed this blog to RSS readers might find it annoying... I apologize in advance.